


70. Meeting Mom and Dad

by glitteredsins, jennandanica



Series: Citadel: Antony Starr and Stephen Amell [70]
Category: Actor RPF, Arrow (TV 2012) RPF, Banshee (TV) RPF, Citadel (Journalfen RPG), New Zealand Actor RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-22
Updated: 2016-03-22
Packaged: 2018-05-28 09:29:00
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6323953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glitteredsins/pseuds/glitteredsins, https://archiveofourown.org/users/jennandanica/pseuds/jennandanica
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Warnings: none</p>
    </blockquote>





	70. Meeting Mom and Dad

**Author's Note:**

> Warnings: none

It's not like Antony's never spoken to his parents, it's not like he's not told them so much about his lover, and it's not like they don't already know about the wedding, but fuck, Stephen is nervous as all hell right now. He adores this man beside him with every fibre of his being, and he desperately wants his parents to love Antony too. He's lost in thought, taking in the familiar streets as the cab takes them to his childhood home, it's raining and cold out, not the weather for what he hopes will be such a happy day.

"It'll be okay," Antony murmurs, letting his fingers brush the side of Stephen's leg, reflecting on the fact that it'll be his turn to fret in a couple of weeks. Not that he's not nervous now, he is, but there's not anything that can be done about it. Stephen's parents either like him or they don't and either way, he's marrying this man. His lover, his boy.

"I know." Stephen turns to look at his lover, and he smiles. "An hour from now I'm sure I'll be wondering why I was so worried." He bumps shoulders with Antony. "Trust me, you give my Dad that scotch you packed, you'll be mates for life," he teases.

Antony grins. "I brought chocolate for your mum too."

"Smooth," Stephen rolls his eyes. "It might work, who knows? She's the one you gotta charm, you know that right?" He glances back out the window as the car turns up into their street. "Here we are."

"Nice neighbourhood," Antony says, taking a good look around. Watching for Stephen's address.

"Yeah," Stephen spies the house and his heart does a little flip. He's not been home in far far too long, and now he's right here, he realises how much he's missed his parents. It seems you're never too old to miss home.

Antony smiles at the look on Stephen's face. They pull up in front of the house and he reaches over the seat to pay the driver, joining Stephen on the sidewalk a moment later with their bags, having already spied their security in place just down the street.

The front door opens before they're halfway up the path, and Stephen quickens his pace until he's at the doorstep, his bag dropped at his feet as he wraps his arms around his mother. "Mom," he murmurs, breathing in her perfume, grinning as he's squeezed tight in response. Then he's released so she can pull back and look him in the face.

Clearly Carole likes what she sees, because she makes no comment about how he's taking care of himself, instead she glances past him.

"Hi, I'm Antony. It's good to meet you finally," Antony says with a smile, offering his hand to Carole.

She's spoken to Antony on the phone several times, seen pictures that Stephen had emailed from some of their trips abroad, but it's entirely different to meet the man your son is about to marry in just a few weeks. Carole steps aside from where Stephen is watching her and looks down at the hand being offered. "A handshake? Really Antony?" she scolds. "Is that the best you can do?" She arches a brow at him.

Stephen's gone from holding his breath to holding back his laughter. He'd expected his Mom to be a little cool until she'd spent some time weighing up Antony, clearly not the case. Heaven help his lover.

Antony grins, his expression a tad sheepish, and wraps his arms around Carole, giving her a hug. "You sound like my mum."

"I'll take that as a compliment," Carole smiles as she hugs her soon-to-be son-in-law. Then she steps back. "Come on inside, there's tea and cake ready." Pushing open the door she urges both men inside. "Stephen can show you where to hang up your coats, come on through to the kitchen when you're done." And with that Carole disappears down the hallway.

Stephen grins that his lover. "Okay, I wasn't expecting that," he admits, shedding his coat and tugging off his boots, he puts them in a closet and takes Antony's from him.

"I know I wasn't," Antony says, but he's still grinning. "Think your dad'll do the same?" he teases, digging through his bag for the scotch and chocolates he brought with him.

"Pops is a laid back kind of guy, though _he_ may prefer the handshake." Stephen cocks his head toward the door. "Ready?"

Antony straightens up, presents in hand, and leans in to give Stephen a quick kiss before he nodding. "As ready as I'll ever be."

Jack is pouring boiling water into a teapot when Stephen pushes the door open and steps through, Antony hot on his heels. "Pops!" Stephen's all smiles again. His dad sets down the kettle and moves to envelop his son in a warm hug - they're the same height, similar in colouring too. "Dad... this is Antony, Antony, my dad, Jack," Stephen's pulling away to turn his smile on his lover.

"Antony," Jack smiles and offers his hand. "I was beginning to think we'd never get to meet you."

"I know, between my schedule and Stephen's..." Antony shakes Jack's hand. "But I'm glad we finally made it. It's a pleasure to meet you." He smiles and offers Jack the scotch. "I thought you might enjoy this and Stephen says his mum likes her chocolate," he adds, holding out the box. "I picked them up on my way through Amsterdam."

"Bribery!" Carole exclaims setting a plate of cakes on the kitchen table. "I like you already," she laughs and winks at her son's partner. She takes the box and looks it over, it's clearly very fine quality confectionery. "Thank you, that was a lovely thought."

Jack meantime is admiring the bottle of 21 year old Glenlivet. "Will you join me later in sampling this?" he looks up at both men. "Maybe a toast hmm?"

"That would be great," Antony says, smiling over at Stephen. So far, so good... "Thanks for having us, and for being willing to travel to Wellington for the wedding. I really appreciate it. My parents are getting really excited."

Setting the bottle down on the table, Jack waves at the seats. "Sit down, tea?" He takes a seat of his own and lets Carole take over. "We have to admit, the idea of a wedding was unexpected," Jack looks up at his son and smiles. "Stephen's never really seemed that interested in anyone before, he's always been so busy working, but then...he met you."

Stephen's taken a seat beside Antony, opposite his Dad, he picks up a biscuit from the plate his mom had set out. "Yep," he nods, smiling happily between his dad, mom and his lover. "To be fair, we weren't looking to get married any time soon, but I dunno, something changed, and we can't see any reason why not."

"It won't be public knowledge of course," Antony says, taking a biscuit as well. "But this is for us, our families, that's what matters."

Stephen nods as he crunches through his treat, already eyeing up the cake he wants next. "So the wedding's gonna be really small, reasonably informal, I'm really looking forward to meeting Antony's family and introducing you to them."

Carole puts a full mug of tea in front of each of the men before settling and picking up her own. "So how's your family taken the news Antony?"

Antony thanks her for the tea and takes another biscuit. "My mum's thrilled, and over the moon that we're having it in their backyard," he says with a smile. "My dad... he's still getting used to the idea he's getting a son-in-law instead of a daughter. But he'll be good by the time we get there and he meets Stephen. He's one of those guys who needs time to adjust to things."

"Why would he have expected a daughter in law?" Carole cuts her gaze to Stephen when she asks this. "I assumed you had been out to your family for a long time?" It had come as little surprise to her when Stephen had sat her down one sunny afternoon out in the back yard and confessed his preferences, as her only child she was simply relieved he'd felt comfortable enough to tell her.

"As bisexual, but I think my dad still assumed I'd settle down with a woman," Antony explains.

"Oh," but when she looks at Stephen for his reaction, Carole finds her son unconcerned. "But you chose Stephen." It's clear from the way Stephen looks at his partner, those little unconscious glances, that he's incredibly happy, he's relaxed, and despite having just finished a grueling filming schedule, he looks healthy.

"I fell in love with Stephen," Antony responds softly. "And I can't imagine my life without him."

Stephen grins at his mom and then turns to his lover and plants a smacker of a kiss on his cheek. "I love you too," he declares, then he picks up his tea. "The wedding's gonna be a blast, and you're all going to get on famously," he declares, and it's not wishful thinking, he genuinely believes it.

Carole laughs at that. "Yes Sweetie, I'm sure we will, we're very much looking forward to it, and the whole trip." Indeed when Stephen had broached the subject on the phone, he'd insisted that they use the time to have an all expenses paid holiday on his account. Time to see some of what New Zealand has to offer.

"Are you honeymooning straight afterward?" Jack chimes in, watching the interaction between Antony, Stephen and his wife.

Antony nods. "We get there on the Monday and go straight to the registrar since it takes three to four business days to get the licence, the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner are on Friday and the wedding's the Saturday, so we'll have already had six days with everyone."

"Yeah then we have a week in New Zealand, do some sightseeing, walking and have a chill out, before heading home for the holidays, then after the New Year we’re in Nepal for a week trekking followed by a week in Goa for some sea and sun," Stephen continues. With his tea half gone he makes his move on the cake he's been eyeing.

"My mum said she'd like to have you to dinner on Thursday," Antony says. "Just the parents, if that works for you. She knows you'll be getting settled Wednesday."

"That would be lovely," Carole smiles amused at the way Stephen is slowly working his way through the sweet treats. "I see Antony's not cured you of your sweet tooth," she remarks, nudging the plate toward her son. "I've more in the cupboard."

"Cured?" Antony laughs, smiling at Stephen. "I tend to indulge it."

"Don't worry Mom," Stephen licks crumbs from his thumb. "Antony more than puts me through my paces to work it all off, he's going to be teaching me to box as soon as his shoulder's better." He pats his belly. "I've never been in better shape."

"You are looking well," Jack chimes in. "All that training for the show huh? They must really work you hard." He looks over at Antony. "Boxing? What other sports do you indulge in, Antony?"

 _Puts me through my paces_. Antony hides a small smile behind his cup. "Mostly various martial arts," he replies. "I do some running, some lifting too. I was in the military before I started my security firm and I like to set a good example for my employees by keeping in shape."

"So what's your plan, keep your heads down until, or if, Stephen decides to come out?" Jack reaches to swipe one of the last biscuits of the plate right out from under Stephen's nose and winks at his son.

"Pretty much," Antony says. "Stephen's well known but he's not high profile so no one's going to be actively searching for anything on him paper-wise and my firm'll do what it can to bury the certificate and catch anything before it makes the news - if that happens."

"It's a risk, but I can't not do this 'just in case'," Stephen sets his mug down and leans back. "I'm signed up for season three, so I could probably ride out any problems if I needed to but I don't really think it'll be a huge deal, it's not like I'm a movie star is it? Some friends of ours just came out and they seem to be doing okay."

Carole nods. "You've worked hard to get where you are Stephen, I just don't want you to lose it all, I know you love what you do."

"I know Mom."

"I think the climate's really changing," Antony adds. "There's far more celebrities coming out now, even film action stars, and audiences are finally showing Hollywood they don't give a crap if Bond shags men in real life. I think it'll change even more in the next few years so we just have to ride it out until then."

"Won't you need to be seen to be dating someone though?" Carole's given it plenty of thought as Stephen's career took off. "Surely if you're seen out with Antony all the time and never seen with a woman...won't people put two and two together?"

"It's not something I want to do, I think it's dishonest, even if the girl involved is fully aware of it," Stephen shakes his head. "We try and be reasonably circumspect, Tony's often referred to as my trainer or my protection guy."

"And I have a couple other guys who cover Stephen too, especially when I'm out of the country, so I'm not the only one seen with him," Antony says, finishing his tea.

"Well," Carole nods and pushes up from the table. "We thought we'd take you out to dinner tonight, to celebrate, and then I'll do a big home cooked thing tomorrow. I'm sure Stephen's going to want to take you out tomorrow and show you around." She collects up the cups. "So why don't you go and freshen up?"

Stephen nods, sliding out of his seat. "That would be great Mom, thank you." He helps her clear away the table before tugging her in for another kiss. "S'good to see you."

"You too sweetie, now go on, take your bags up and get settled in, I put you in your old room."

Antony grabs their bags and follows Stephen upstairs, smiling at the room which looks, to his mind, like it might not have changed much since Stephen was at home.

Stephen drops down on the end of the bed and looks around, rolling his eyes. "I know, I know," he laughs, there's still photo's up from high school, some of his old sports trophies, even a stuffed toy tucked away at the end of a shelf. "But at least it's a double bed huh?"

"It's nice," Antony says with a smile, closing the door behind them. "My parents turned my room into a den for my dad the moment I left home."

"It's not nearly how I left it, there's no Nirvana posters left." Stephen grins, reaching for Antony's hand. "Feeling more relaxed now?" he asks, obviously referring to the rather easy going introduction.

Antony nods. "Definitely." He grins back, linking their fingers together. "Your parents are really nice." He leans down and kisses Stephen.

Stephen hums happily into the kiss, he's not been able to indulge in any kissing since they left their apartment very early this morning. He tugs Antony down to join him on the bed, his hands moving under Antony's sweater.

Antony pulls him in tighter, licking into his mouth, his body eagerly responding to Stephen's hands on him. "Are they going to come up here?" he asks between kisses.

"They won't come in the room," Stephen murmurs back. "We just need to be discreet, no power play - that'd feel weird." By now Stephen's fingers have found warm skin, and he rubs it, seeking more.

Antony nods, pushing Stephen back on the bed and moving between his thighs, kissing him more deeply, hard against him. "No power play," he promises.

After another deep, sexy kiss, Stephen whispers his question against the corner of his lovers mouth. "Are we just having some hot n sexy making out, or are you gonna make love to me?"

"You tell me," Antony says, lifting his head and looking down at Stephen. "Your room, your house, your parents downstairs..." Eyes crinkling at their corners.

"Later, tonight," Stephen's smile is sultry. "It'll be hot to be on edge all evening, knowing you're going to have to smother my noises while you make love to me."

"Yeah?" Antony drops his head again and bites at Stephen's throat, right along his collar, hips canted, grinding in a tease against him.

"You will. won't you?" Stephen's tilting his head, throat bared for his lover, his Sir. Any bite to his neck made by Antony has Stephen melting, his skin goose bumping.

"Smother your noises or make love to you?" Antony teases, slipping lower, mouth moving over skin as far as he can reach.

"Both..." A low groan and then he nudging at Antony's hip with one hand, wanting his lover to ease up.

Reluctantly Antony pulls back but pulls back he does, planting one more kiss on Stephen's lips before he moves to sit beside him. "You want me dressed for dinner?" he asks.

Stephen scrubs at his face and laughs. "Hell yes, I don't need Mom seeing you naked," he deliberately misunderstands. "She'd freak at the size of you."

"But she'd know why you were marrying me," Antony grins, unable to resist.

"I'm not marrying you for your dick," Stephen smacks Antony's leg. "It's the apartment I'm after, and all your illicitly earned money of course!" He rolls his eyes and he grins.

"Of course," Antony agrees, laughing. He smiles at Stephen. "You still didn't answer me. Am I good the way I am or should I be dressing up some?"

"I'm going to put on some dress pants and a shirt," Stephen pushes up onto his elbows. "Put something fresh on, and they're going to want to cover the bill tonight, okay?"

Antony gives Stephen a look. "Can I at least offer?" he asks, pulling his bag towards him and going through it for some trousers and a dress shirt.

"You can offer," Stephen shrugs as he rolls off the bed and starts to pull his clothes off. "But it was hard enough getting them to agree to letting me cover the trip out to New Zealand, they're going to want to pay something towards the wedding."

"They can pay for dinner tonight and they can pay for personal stuff in New Zealand, but we're covering everything else," Antony says, getting changed. "Just tell them it's our treat and our way of thanking them for being willing to come all that way."

"Hey, if you wanna argue the toss with them, be my guest," Stephen folds up his jeans and sweater and tugs out some fresh underwear and pants.

"What I really want to do, I'm not allowed to until later," Antony says, his gaze hot on his lover.

"Behave," Stephen admonishes, but he loves the fact there is not one moment he spends with Antony where his lover doesn't make it clear that for him, Stephen is hot-as-fuck. "And you should let the gentleman in you out to play this evening, I'll wrestle with the down and dirty lover part of you later on."

"I'll be good," Antony says, crossing his heart, his eyes crinkling even though he means every word.

"Hmm, you better, I think Mom is still weighing you up, but my dad seems won over." Fresh underwear, clean socks and Stephen's pulling on his pants and shaking out a shirt.

"Even after the chocolates?" Antony pretends to be hurt.

"What? You think my mom is a cheap date?" Stephen mock growls.

"Those chocolates weren't exactly cheap," Antony retorts, holding up his hands in self-defence. He grins at Stephen and reaches out, pulling his lover in close again for a kiss. "I promise I will be on my _very_ best behaviour. You won't even know me," he teases.

"Idiot," Stephen laughs, sliding his arms around Antony. "Just be you, and she'll relax, she just needs to be sure about how serious you are about me I think."

Antony thinks the fact he's marrying Stephen and just declared his love for him in front of them should be pretty damn good evidence of that but mums are mums and Stephen's an only... so he nods. "Okay. I love you."

"I love you too." Another quick kiss and Stephen pulls away - finishes dressing and sprays on some cologne. "C'mon, let's go back down," he urges gently. "I have a lot of catching up to do with them."


End file.
